Blog

29 Jan / 2014

Hey CFB! I hope you’ve had an awesome start to the week and you’re ready to finish strong!

Today I wanted to take a second to introduce you to one of our new members who will be joining you in classes next week. She’s been crushing it in private training with me for the last few weeks. Her name is Linh. Be sure to introduce yourself and say hi!

Who are you and what are you about?

I’m passionate about higher education, fitness, and craft beer (in that order). I’m a former division III dual sport athlete now reliving the glory days through obstacle course racing. I was born and raised in Massachusetts and recently took a job opportunity which allowed me to relocate back to the city. I earned my B.S. in Psychology from Worcester State University and a M.Ed. in Administration of Higher Education from Suffolk University. Yes, my credentials reflect my current profession as a university administrator and I love working with college students! Since being introduced to the Paleo diet, I’ve developed a greater appreciation for human evolution and modern technology.

Why did you join CrossFit Boston?

I joined CrossFit Boston to regain my strength and speed without sacrificing endurance. I recently relocated back into the city for a job and was running longer distances to improve my endurance. I knew I needed to get back into strength and conditioning if I was going to achieve my goal of becoming a Spartan Trifecta Tribe member this year. After reading about other locations, I decided on Crossfit Boston because of what they had to offer and it is close enough for me to run to when the weather is nicer. Crossfit Boston is preparing me for glory!

What are you getting out of the Private Training?

Other than spending quality one on one time with Pat Larcom, I definitely benefited from the personal training sessions! Becoming familiar with the Crossfit language and work out format helped me become accustom to functional fitness skills and techniques. With Pat’s help, I finally learned how to properly row and to rely on a different sense when lifting. Before Crossfit, I heavily relied on mirrors to make sure I was keeping proper form. Now, I know when I am maintaining good form because I can “feel it” rather than needing to “see” it in the mirror. The private training helped me assess what I need to work on, helped correct bad habits, and expanded on what I did well by learning new techniques, which helps me finish my workouts more efficiently.

What are some of your goals for this year?

My big goal for this year is to become a member of the 2014 Spartan Trifecta Tribe by completing all three (sprint-3.1mi, super-8-9mi, beast-10-14mi) races ranging in distance and number of obstacles in one calendar year. With each race my goal is to finish under my projected finish time and not to fail anymore than 3 obstacles. I know I will never fail the row at the Fenway Time Trial again next year!

My Crossfit goals are to meet all of the prescribed benchmarks weights and reps. I hope not to have to modify anything when doing a WOD with time and hard dedication. Thrusters, Push Ups, and Pull Ups will be a focus. Also, I will continue to work on my rowing technique, which will help me improve my average split time. I would like to get it (under 2:20) and participate in the Renegade Rowing League next year.

What are you looking forward to once you graduate to group classes?

I am looking forward to seeing myself improve after each group class. I know I will enjoy the camaraderie Crossfit Boston offers with group sessions. I thrive off of a team atmosphere because it motivates me to push harder. Just the idea of having your butt handed to you over and over again and wanting to come back the next day excites me. But, knowing there will be others to endure the tough workouts with me makes doing Burpees a bit tolerable, ha!

Who’s going to give her some company on a Spartan Race this year?

Hit up the Comments!

29 Jan / 2014

In 1899, William McKinley was President of the United States, a 50 gallon barrel of maple syrup cost $.89/pound, and the bicycle frame and motor powered vacuum cleaner were patented. But was really interests me about 1899 (and the years following up through the 1940’s) is how people ate. Just think about it for a minute…

In 1899 nobody had refrigerators or microwaves. So no Lean Cuisines or Frozen Lasangas for our 19th century friends.

People in rural areas mostly grew their own vegetables. People in cities bought vegetables from the market on a near daily basis (in fact, most of Europe still does this. That might be one reason Europe does food better than America).

Most people ate meat from their own livestock or from livestock nearby. Many people probably still hunted their own meat (venison burger anyone?). Although people in large cities did eat meat from factories with some pretty nasty processes (go ahead and check out Upton SinClair’s The Jungle if you don’t believe me).

28 Jan / 2014

It’s competition season guys. That’s right, the Open is upon us. Many of us have just competed in Not Your Average Joes at North Shore CrossFit or the CrossFit Phoenix Rising Championships. Competition is a ton of fun and there is nothing like a big event to inspire some new PR’s and top notch performances.

With that in mind let us have a brief discussion of training vs. performance.

When we train, we are looking to elicit a training response from our body and mind that will increase our capacity. In most cases we want to train with “perfect” movement standards. That means those pull ups show the whole head over the bar, our kettlebell swings are perfectly in plane with the body in the overhead position, and when we do push ups our whole body moves as a unit. Every motion is another step towards excellence in motion. This is how we build capacity.

When we compete the goal is to meet the competition standard as effectively and efficiently as possible. How do we do our push ups in competition then? As efficiently as mandated… thats it… snatches, box jumps, dolphin burpees… all to standard of the event… Often times this leads to some interesting variation, there is nothing wrong with this, but we don’t do ourselves any favors by adopting some of these abbreviated movement standards.

I have always been impressed with the quality of movement at CrossFit Boston, especially with the barbell movements. Keep up the great work everyone!

23 Jan / 2014

Do you realize that there are only 34 days until the first WOD is announced for the 2014 Reebok CrossFit Games Open? Insane! As you know we are choosing one movement each week to highlight for skill development. The movements have been chosen based on what has been most common in previous years selections and those that we feel may show up in the future. Two weeks ago we focused on the thruster. This week we focused on Toe 2 bars and knee to elbows. Next week…the pistol! Get ready to see some real improvement if you are struggling with the basics of the movement and some loading if you can perform this movement well.

Tuesday was a special day in the gym. The WOD was very similar to Open WODS completed in the past two years consisting of snatches and Burpees. The time was programmed to be a shorter AMRAP to ensure intensity was HIGH. There was even a discussion prior to class explaining the expectations. Perform as though your head was on fire. You all did not disappoint! I was impressed in the efforts I saw all around. I believe, everyone properly scaled the load for the snatch and turned his or her motor on full go! Keep it up, the programming is going to ask that you find that dark place again and again.

Beyond the obvious of work capacity, your mental capacity will determine just how well you perform in the Open workouts. Start preparing now!

Renegade Rowing League

The second 2k Test for the RRL is this upcoming Saturday at 11AM. There will not be an 11am class. We will still be holding the regular 9 & 10 AM classes.

How’s the transformation challenge going? Have you been able to keep all of your nutrition points? One thing that has helped me keep all of my points throughout the week has been prepping enough food and snacks for the whole week on Sunday afternoon. Below are a few meal options I put together for Breakfast, Lunch, and Dinner this week. I also make sure to have bananas, apples, cashews, figs, grapes, and plantain chips ready for when I need a little snack or pick me up in between meals and post training. If you’d like step by step directions and pictures for these recipes I’ve passed them on to Alex Black of Wicked Good Nutrition to include in her recipe and nutrition plan package. There’s lots of awesome stuff in there, so if you need some new ideas to keep things fresh be sure to check it out. Just shoot her an email or drop in to her sessions on Saturdays at 12pm.

Three varieties of Chicken Salad loaded with veggies and pistachios.

Looking forward to seeing how everyone has transformed in a few more weeks.

22 Jan / 2014

Kale is, and has been, the new “it” vegetable for a while now. I think it was also the “it” vegetable a few decades ago, then went away and came back. Anyone who wore bell bottoms in the 90’s thinking it was so new, only to see pictures of mom rocking the same thing in the 70’s knows that sometimes happens.

But now, we have a few articles – like this one on “The Dark Side Of Kale” – discussing the potential for kale and other cruciferous vegetables – including broccoli, bok choy, cabbage, cauliflower, collard greens, and brussels sprouts – to cause problems with our thyroid. Here’s the gist of the article:

A lot of people, even President Obama and Kevin Bacon, love kale. Kale is awesome. But, then a reporter from the times (a young, healthy 40-something) found out she had hypothyroidism. Apparently, a Google search lead her to lots of information about how the kale she juiced every morning and some other cruciferous vegetables have been linked to hypothyroidism. Researchers from Oregon State University explain that this can happen because certain compounds in the vegetables break down to some compounds which can interfere with the body’s ability to produce thyroid hormone and other compounds that can compete with iodine for uptake by the thyroid (the thyroid needs enough iodine to function normally). But, the good news is, the risk of developing hypothyroidism from too much raw cruciferous veg appears to be troublesome mostly in the presence of an iodine deficiency. The article also notes a few other things you can do to prevent this problem…

3. Add a Brazil nut every now and again – Brazil nuts have plenty of Selenium, and Selenium can help support normal iodine levels.

4. Alternate between cruciferous and non-cruciferous vegetables.

Afraid of kale now? Don’t be. As one of the interviewed experts points out, the poison is in the dose. Eating a few servings of raw kale, broccoli, or brussels sprouts per week is fine. Juicing several pounds of kale or spinach everyday may put you at risk. (Besides, you shouldn’t be juicing all your vegetables anyway, because you lose all the good fiber in them when you do that).

So, does kale cause hypothyroidism? No, not usually. But it might, if you eat over 3 pounds of it raw everyday. If you’re not doing that, feel free to keep enjoying your kale and broccoli – it is a good source of important nutrients like fiber, B vitamins, and iron.

16 Jan / 2014

Another little Thompson is about to Fire It Up in style by coming into the world. As I write this post Little Thompson is not here yet but it’s a matter of what hour will she decide to grace us with her presence!

I will get next weeks programming up for everyone over the course of this weekend. As an FYI there will only be class on Saturday at 9&10 then oly at 11am. Coach Julie is covering the house while everyone else is out playing at NorthShore CrossFit.

16 Jan / 2014

There have been some questions posed as whether members are supposed to register under CrossFit Boston or CrossFit Boston Iron & Grit. All peeps should register under CrossFit Boston to avoid confusion and your score not being applied to the TEAM.

Thanks!

15 Jan / 2014

It’s Winter in Boston and a mess outside. Without many opportunities to run, you’ve probably noticed that the amount of Rowing in your daily life has increased. Lately you’ve seen rowing in your warmups, workouts, and especially in the Transformation Challenge WOD. I wanted to take a moment to draw your attention to the Concept2 Ergometer and how you can make your time on the erg more enjoyable and more consistent.